Flipped
by ForeverDaydream
Summary: AU: Raven and Apple's families have been switched, so the Evil Queen is now Snow White and vice versa. Will the rebellion still happen? Will Apple still be the destiny fanatic we know her as, or will she be less enthusiastic without a happy ending? good!EQ, evil!Apple
1. Introducing the Hero

Flipped

 _AN and disclaimer: I did not come up with this idea on my own, I've seen it done before. However, this particular story is inspired by my reflections on how Apple and Raven really do suit each other's destinies. On the most basic level, one could argue that Raven would be a better Snow White because of her dark hair, but I think Apple really suits the role of Evil Queen. Think about it-she's vain (prides herself on being "Fairest of Them All"), and one of her most prized possessions is a magic mirror_ _that gives her fashion advice. Isn't that a little weird, considering the trouble magic mirrors indirectly got her mother into? Raven, on the other hand, avoids all mirrors and is a lot more humble. Also, consider Apple's name and the pride with which she bears it. It's a little weird that Snow White would name her daughter Apple. As Emily at the Toybox Philosopher put it, "That would be like Frodo Baggins naming his son Sauron." But it actually would make a lot of sense for the Evil Queen to name her_ _daughter Apple, as that was what she's known for. I really like imagining EQ!Apple._

Now for the story!

Chapter One: Introducing the Hero

Morning dawned on the first day of the school year, and students slowly began to trickle into Ever After High. Classes started later at EAH than at spellementary school so that students could settle into their dorms. Students did not have to be in school until sunset, so people were came trickling in little by little over the course of the day.

Nervous freemen and legacy students tended to come first, and this year was no exception. Every year the children of illustrious characters and scads of princes and princesses would sign the Storybook of Legends, but this year was special in that it contained almost the entirety of several prominent stories, including Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. Snow White was the most important because the Whites had won the Imperial Wars and ruled the UFK. Most other kings and queens were puppetheads, but the Whites held real power.

Raven White, heiress to the empire, walked up to the gates with her BFFAs Madeline Hatter and Cerise Hood. She was a little apprehensive about Legacy Day and what it implied. She wasn't one hundred percent thrilled with her destiny-she was thankful that she had a happily-ever-after, but she wasn't looking forward to what came before that. Enchanted sleep frightened her.

 _That's a normal response_ , Raven thought. _What kind of girl wouldn't be worried by a poisoned apple and sleep like death? But my destiny is one of the better ones, and I have to be grateful for that._ This was true-in fact, Raven didn't even have the worst destiny among those promised a happily-ever-after! Briar Beauty had the same promise, but the middle part of her story would last a hundred years. A short repose in a coffin was nothing compared to that.

 _And that's the only apple I'll ever have to eat,_ Raven thought. When she was small her fear had generalized so that even normal apples creeped her out. Her mother was the same way.

Her mother understood her misgivings, but she said that destiny was a duty they all had to do, and Raven shouldn't complain because there were people who would kill to be in her shoes-like Rhodanthe "Duchess" Swan, who would die at the end of her story. Thinking of Duchess always put things in perspective. Besides, Raven's "in-between" time (in-story, pre-happy ending) wouldn't last forever. It wouldn't last very long at all, and then Raven had a whole life in front of her-which, again, was something some others didn't.

Her mother certainly hadn't limited herself to her story. Lily White had always had a fascination with Wonderland, and she used it to foster trade and create a dependable alliance. Wonderlandians had always tended to be misunderstood and looked down upon by foreigners. Raven's mother hadn't and couldn't completely fix that, but thanks to her Wonderland's relations with Ever After were better than they had been for a long time, maybe ever, and more Wonderlandians than ever before were attending EAH. Raven hoped to follow in her example and be more than just another Snow White. _We can still make_ _our_ _dreams come true, birdie,_ she'd said, _just...after our stories. That's what makes the happy ending happy._

Speaking of happily-ever-afters, there was her boyfriend! Dexter Charming rushed toward Raven, tripping a little bit on the uneven stones. He caught himself and embraced Raven. They had seen each other only days before, but a bystander would have thought they had been separated all summer.

"Technically, narrator, he isn't _just_ her boyfriend," Maddie said to no one in particular, twirling her travel hat on one finger like a spinning top. Okay, that is true. Raven and Dexter were betrothed, as many princes and princesses were. If a betrothal contract was not made the Book would choose unassigned princes for stories with openings-and while some claimed the Book made true love matches, some said it was random, and most didn't want to take the chance. Certainly Lily White hadn't tolerated the possibility that her daughter would get assigned to a random prince, considering-Maddie, are you still listening?

"Yes, but I think I know what you're talking about anyway," Maddie said. Right-certainly Lily White would not have taken a passive role in the choosing of her daughter's husband, considering the way her marriage had turned out.

Lily's parents had arranged a betrothal contract at their daughter's birth with the oldest son of a prominent Charming family. He had seemed nice enough, but after the end of the story Lily had discovered that he was the kind of prince that expected to be the hero in the relationship, and Lily was certainly no damsel. Her new husband was not expecting her strength of will and independence, had not known how to handle her. Raven's father had quickly become resentful of his wife's power, and as royals and supposed true loves they could not admit the depth of their issues publicly, let alone get a divorce. Trapped in a loveless marriage with no way out, animosities grew quickly, and they could only barely contain their contempt for each other around their daughter.

Lily had made sure her daughter wouldn't have to deal with those kinds of issues and could have at least a civil marriage, and whenever Raven considered that she could have been betrothed to Dexter's vapid brother Daring she was infinitely grateful.

Little did Raven, or Dexter, know the extent to which Lily had gone to make sure their match was a good one…

 _Flashback_

 _As expected, Lily White had begun to receive petitions for her daughter's hand the day after she was born. Her husband urged her to make an agreement, but she ignored him and sent them all back (after reading them and making notes of what various persons' conditions were, of course). Shortly thereafter the castle released a statement that said that betrothals for the princess would not be considered until the child's sixth birthday._

 _It broke tradition, and as such was a touch scandalous, but due to the prestige of her family name she got away with it._

 _Young Raven began having playdates with other children as soon as possible, and when she began nursery rhyme school Lily always made sure to be there at either pickup, dropoff, or playtime, or all three. It was difficult considering her busy schedule, but she made sure to do it so that she could observe the princes and Raven's interactions with them._

 _Of course, Lily wasn't going to base her decision solely on observations of three-year-old children. They might change as they grew. She studied true love theory extensively, and worked with dwarven sorcerers to build contraptions that would measure temperament and romantic compatibility. One of the dwarves set about discreetly gathering princes' genetic material, and Lily had every prince within three years of Raven's age tested. She might not be able to find Raven's one true love, but she could and_ _would_ _find a boy she could be happy with._

 _Of course there were multiple princes that scored highly enough to be candidates, but in the end, Dexter Charming had outshone the rest. He was perfect-from a family important enough that no one would look askance if they received Raven's contract, even-tempered, intelligent, endearing, wasn't too dominant without being too submissive, Raven liked him well enough, and, most importantly, he had practically imprinted on Raven like a baby duckling. One of the most significant theories in true love theory was the Charming Love-At-First-Sight Syndrome (CLAFSS). It held that most of the original Princes Charming, and some of their descendants, had a gene that allowed them to instantly recognize an ideal or the ideal mate the moment they first met and caused an immediate "smitten" feeling. This was how the original fairy-tale princes decided to marry a girl immediately after meeting her and had happy marriages. There was argument over whether these princes spotted their soul mates or simply highly compatible partners, but the phenomenon itself was well-documented and almost always ended in healthy and loving relationships._

 _Additionally, even at five Dexter was clumsy, awkward, and constantly outshone by his older brother Daring, who was already considered record-breakingly charming. It was obvious the boy's parents favored Daring, and Lily worried that without someone to support him Dexter would grow up to be deeply insecure._

 _So on the morning of Raven's sixth birthday she sent a copy of the contract her lawyers had prepared before Raven's birth to the D Charmings. Their mail geese probably passed each other, actually, because at nine when the mail was checked they had sent a contract written for Raven and Daring again. Several people had ignored Lily's announcement and continued sending petitions for Raven's hand over the years, and the D Charmings were one of them. At first they sent petitions in both of their sons' names once a year, but recently, after the boys' personalities began to emerge, Dexter's name had vanished and Daring's petitions came more and more frequently, with a rapidly-growing resume._

 _They quickly arranged a meeting, at which King Charming exasperatedly asked her how she had gotten the boys' names mixed up when Daring was so impressive. "His fencing instructor says he'd never seen a toddler so gifted," he boasted._

 _Frankly, Lily was more upset at the implication that she had gotten the wrong name for the boy she wanted her daughter to marry than King Charming's dismissal of his younger son. He might be a terrible parent, but_ _she_ _wasn't! She tersely replied that there was no mix-up, that she was offering for Dexter. King Charming outright gaped. He stared incredulously, mouth hanging open. Queen Charming was more composed and poked her husband until he closed his mouth. He opened it again immediately thereafter to sputter out a question._

 _Lily had carefully considered how to answer this question, and had prepared an answer that would meet the Charmings' expectations. She put on her least convincing smile and said rather patronizingly, "I feel that our story simply would not do Daring justice. All the prince has to do is show up and kiss the girl. He doesn't even have to remove the coffin lid himself! Considering how….gifted….Daring is, I think that he deserves a story in which he makes a daring rescue and slays a dragon or something. That being said, your family name is above reproach, and I think a match between our families would be prudent. It's so convenient that you have another son, isn't it?" She could practically see the light turn on in King Charming's head, and a scheme begin. It was true that Dexter wouldn't need to be good at swordplay or dragon-slaying if all he had to do was show up and kiss a girl-and he wouldn't be a disgrace to the Charming name married into the imperial family._

 _So they began negotiations, which were tense. Both sides thought the other's terms were unreasonable. The Charmings thought that Lily's contract was scandalously progressive, while she thought theirs was nauseatingly conservative. Lily had structured the contract so that it was clear that it was Raven's throne. She would have control over everything-Dexter would just be Prince Consort. Additionally, she included clauses that would allow Raven or Lily to break the contract at any time (with some effort, so it couldn't be done rashly out of anger) and a non-fidelity clause (in case Dexter and Raven didn't get along as well as she thought they would). The Charmings, on the other hand, were old-fashioned and sexist in a way that was still socially acceptable. They expected Dexter to be unofficially given the throne, and the queen to be a submissive damsel._

 _Compromises were made on both sides, of course, but in the end, Lily won. How could she not? Whenever the Charmings were being too difficult or too demanding she would say, "There are a lot of other Charming families that would be more than willing to meet my conditions," and they would acquiesce. At one point King Charming accused her of choosing Dexter because she could make outrageous demands for a second-tier prince. Lily met his gaze unblinkingly and thought that it was lucky that they didn't know how much she wanted this or else_ _they_ _would make outrageous demands._

 _In the final contract, Dexter's title was bumped up to King Consort, and he was given some power, though Raven still had final word. Lily lost her exit clause but Raven kept hers (she was adamant that Raven have the right to refuse). The Whites were to help the Charmings make a contract for Daring and exempt their kingdom from tariffs, and to take control over Dexter's and Darling's education. Lily imagined that this was so they could blame his clumsiness on someone else, or to receive free childcare, but it was an unexpected boon. Every day after school when Daring had various lessons Darling and Dexter would go to the White Keep and receive encouragement from Lily, as well as much-needed training. They were, after all, six years behind Raven in learning the dwarvish language and traditions._


	2. Introducing the Villain

Chapter Two: Introducing the Villain

Meanwhile, another student was arriving. Apple Queen flew over the town of Book End on her dragon Braebyrn. They swooped down towards a courtyard in Ever After High, coming very close to the tops of people's heads, and Braebyrn roared and blew fire. People screamed and ran off in all directions.

Apple smirked as she hopped to the ground. Usually the Whites and Queens looked alike-dark hair, pale skin-like two sides of a coin, the Good Ruler and the Bad Ruler, but Apple had broken this tradition when she was born with pale blond hair. It had streaks of a sickly hot pink in it. Apple embraced her destiny with a relish that many princesses and other potential victims found disturbing. She had positively boatloads of apple- or mirror-themed accessories, and had seven magic mirrors, one of which was a compact mirror that she carried with her at all times. Another, larger hand mirror was kept in her bookbag, and when she was bored in class she'd take it out and admire herself.

Apple sashayed through the halls, Braebyrn at her heels (he fit easily into the halls that had been built large enough to hold giants) carrying her bags.

Apple sashayed to her room. Braebyrn set her trunks in front of the door, and she dismissed him. Apple went into the room, and struggled to levitate the trunks in because it wouldn't do something as common and ungraceful as drag them in. It was mostly successful-the trunks rose but the net they were in did not, and they slipped out of it.

Half of the room was decorated opulently in red and gold, with apples everywhere-the knobs of all the drawers were shaped like apples, as were the pillows, the feet of her fainting couch, and the crystal beads of the light fixtures. The curtain around her canopied bed was spangled with apples too. The other motif was mirrors-in the tufts of the silk quilted comforter and cushions on the chair in front of her vanity were tiny mirrors with carefully sanded edges. The frame at the top of her bed's canopy was styled to look like shards of glass, and the frames of the pictures (the only one Apple wasn't in was an official portrait of her mother) were either mirrored or embedded with glass. Normal mirrors had already been placed on the long wall shared by Apple and her roommate, Chloris "Blondie" Lockes. Blondie's half of the room was empty-she must not be here yet-and had the plain furniture the school provided when the room's occupant would not have their own shipped in.

Her magic mirrors, however, were not there. Apple would not allow anyone else to handle them. Apple opened one of her trunks. A beautifully carved ebony box sat at the top, decorated with apples and bits of glass. It was wide but not deep; it was magically expanded on the inside to contain five mirrors. Apple picked up the box (charmed to be lightweight) and set it on her bed. She opened it and began removing mirrors. There was one for the bathroom; one for her vanity; a full-length one; one to go next to her picture of her mother that was the mirror that would be officially used in her story; and another full-length mirror for her walk-in closet. Apple hung up the mirrors and asked one for the time. The imps that would unpack for her would arrive in five minutes.

Apple admired herself in her full-length mirror. Traditionally, Evil Queens dressed primarily in red, white, and black-the colors of the story that the Queens embodied just as much as Whites; colors that, ironically, the Whites used mostly for ceremonies. _Apple's family should have the honor; they were proud of their heritage!_ Apple had added gold as another primary color, to reflect _her_ looks-although, she thought, scowling at her pale blond hair, her hair wasn't quite the color of gold. Today Apple was dressed in a corseted black brocade top with gold laces and tight black pants, accessorized with chunky gold armlets and, of course, her signature black pearl necklace with the apple pendant and red shoes with apple heels. Her gold tiara was inlaid with jet. This was her riding outfit, although she usually had to wear practical black boots with gold swirls with it.

Blondie burst into the room. Theirs was a begrudging friendship-Apple disdained the other princesses and all commoners on principle but was too competitive to really be friends with many of the other major villains. Blondie was a wannabe royal, but also an unrepentant gossip. After the first few fables the princesses and other virtuous maidens refused to have anything to do with her, making her bitter enough to get along well with Apple, who also _was_ enough of a princess to soothe Blondie's hurt ego. Apple had supplied Blondie with all her finest clothes and accessories, and often dyed her old dresses yellow or blue and gave them to Blondie. Today Blondie wore her own yellow lace dress and one of Apple's old belts (thick cords of white jade beads that clicked against each other). She carried her schoolbag, a worn carpet bag, and a battered trunk. For once her mirrorpad was not in her hand.

"Hi Apple!" Blondie said. "Did you hear that Briar arrived with Faybelle today?"

"Faybriar is old news, Blondie," Apple said. Faybelle Thorne had been Apple's rival for the title of Next Top Villain, but she had royally disgraced herself when she began dating her would-be victim last year. Of course, Briar had already been Faybelle's best friend for ten years at that point, so perhaps it should have been less of a shock, but still! And Faybriar had opened the door for other forbidden romances, such as Fowler "Hunter" Huntsman and Ashlynn Ella, Rosabella Beauty and Darling Charming, and Kitty Cheshire and Lizzie Hearts (who had actually been openly dating in Wonderland for two years at that point, but still).

"The Dark Fairy was with them," Blondie added. "Why doesn't she try to stop them like Briar's parents do?"

Apple shrugged and hurriedly left the room as Blondie opened her bags and began to unpack. She had learned the hard way to stay out of Hurricane Blondie's way as she arranged and rearranged her belongings.


	3. Friends and Classes

Chapter Three: Friends and Classes

On the first day of classes, students headed towards the castleteria. Raven sat with her usual crowd. She had always felt more comfortable with commoners than fellow royalty-her three best friends at EAH were Maddie, Cerise, and Cedar (she was also stone-sisters with a dwarf named Opal, but she didn't go to school here)-but she was also close to Darling, and had gotten to know Darling's friends Rosabella Beauty, Ashlynn Ella, and Farrah Goodfairy quite well. In the past year when Raven had steadfastly supported the forbidden relationships Ashlynn spent more time with her, which was great because their boyfriends were best friends and both girls saw them more when they all hung out in a group. Briar Beauty and Faybelle Thorne had been drawn into the group through Rosabella, Briar's once-estranged cousin. Of course, Wonderlandians were also nearby-Raven knew them quite well, and would help them with any issues they might have not understanding a land that wasn't mad, and issues with those who didn't understand them. The two overlapping cliques sat side-by-side in the castleteria.

As everyone talked about their summers-the most common topic was Raven's two-week trip to Wonderland with her mother and Dexter and Darling-Briar looked a little sad. Her parents had not taken the news of her relationship with Faybelle well, especially her father, and she had lived with Rosabella over the break. Darling hadn't gone back to her parents' house either. For once Briar did not wear something styled with roses and thorns but just a pretty, pale pink dress and silver sandals, and like Cerise Darling wore leggings, a tunic, and sturdy, sensible shoes. Raven was glad when future fairy-godmothers began popping in and handing out schedules. She looked at her classes: Kingdom Management, Princessology (ugh), Damsel-in-Distressing (double ugh), Environmental Magic, Crownculus, Music, and Grimmnastics. There was also a note for the headmaster-her daily trip home for (secret magic) lessons with her mother had been reapproved as well. The group compared schedules. Cerise, Darling, Ashlynn, and Briar were all also in DID. All the princesses had Kingdom Management and Princessology (though not all were in the same class period), and Rosabella, Ashlynn, Hunter, and Cerise were in Environmental Magic. Raven's mom had succeeded in getting Darling into Hero Training with the boys.

"Why do you have a class with your mom, Raven?" Briar asked. Raven froze.

"She's not supposed to tell," Darling answered. "Family secrets. She had one last year too."

"There's the Unholy Trinity," Cedar blurted out. She had been enchanted at birth never to tell lies, but the young fairy was inexperienced and overpowered the enchantment, causing Cedar to be unable to censor herself.

The "Unholy Trinity" was the name Cerise had given Apple, Blondie, and Duchess. They were the three meanest girls on campus. As they stepped into the castleteria three fairies appeared in front of them. They squeaked and, seeing they were about to leave, Apple made a threatening gesture. They dropped the schedules, and Blondie stooped to pick them up.

Apple looked over her schedule. Advanced Villainy, Magicology, Kingdom Mismanagement ( _yawn_ ), History of Evil Spells/Poison Fruit Theory (each was one semester), Crownculus, Experimental Fairy Math, and, of course, Grimmnastics. Better than she'd expected-Magicology was dreaded, but inevitable. The truth was, Apple wasn't a very good witch. She wasn't strong magically. Potions and poisons, which anybody (or almost anybody) could create, were her weapons of choice. History of Evil Spells would probably occasionally have practicals involving spellcasting, but only Magicology would be a constant source of embarrassment.

Crownculus would be a drag too. She probably could have tested out of that class her first day of freeman year. Why couldn't she take Princessology? She was royalty too!

She and Blondie compared schedules. The Princessology class had also rejected Blondie (though not Duchess). Blondie had mostly non-story related classes, as it didn't take much skill to eat, sit in chairs, and lie down in beds, which is essentially all Blondie did. Even trespassing was easy considering Blondie's talent for unlocking doors. Blondie and Duchess would be with Apple for Crownculus, and Blondie would also be in her Grimmnastics. That was it as far as shared classes went.

As Apple began to withdraw from the schedules, she noticed that Duchess had not been paying attention to the examination at all. Instead, she stared across the castleteria to Raven White's table. Apple curled her lip in disdain. Raven White-Apple _hated_ her. She had the most famous name in all of Ever After, and what did she do with it? Befriend commoners! Date the least charming prince in the whole school! Support rebellious romances! She never made allusions to her story. She hadn't started wearing makeup at all until last year, and even then she was as bare-faced as a spellementary schooler most days. She didn't _deserve_ what she had! Apple would do so much better. If she were a normal princess, she'd rule the school!

Apple looked back at Duchess. "What are you staring at?" she asked coolly.

"Briar Beauty," came the response. "She's not wearing any symbols from her story." Duchess sighed. "Neither she nor Ashlynn have ended their relationships, which are doomed to failure, and Darling is going about in exercise clothes and jousting with the boys. It's disgraceful. If they disrespect their stories, why do they get to have them? I'd do anything to be in their shoes!"

"Oh, they're getting up to leave," Blondie said. "Grizz, let's go!" (Grizz was a bear-shaped golem Apple had made for Blondie the summer before freeman year to be her cameraman when she took her gossiping onto a Mirrornet show.) Blondie and the lumbering pseudo-bear got up and raced to the castleteria doors.

"Briar, Ashlynn!" Blondie called. "Are you planning on ending your forbidden romances soon?"

"No comment," Darling said. Rosabella grabbed Briar's hand in support, and in warning-for Briar had looked like she might respond.

"You do realize that these romances won't work out? Surely you don't intend to continue past Legacy Day?"

"No comment," Darling repeated.

"Briar, is it true that you lived with the Thornes over the summer? How does it feel, to be rejected by your parents for a villain-?"

"Enough!" Raven said. "Blondie, stop harassing these girls. This is none of your business. The details of other people's private lives should not be posted on the Mirrornet, and you have no right to put them there. If you continue speculating I'll contact a lawyer."

"I have freedom of speech, you know!" Blondie shot back.

"Freedom of speech is not freedom of gossip," Raven maintained. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Go back to reviewing local boutiques and leave us alone."

With that Raven and her friends escaped. Blondie turned back to the camera. "Well, folks, that's the heir to the White empire and her stance on the issue," Blondie said. "But I have interviewed some other students from prominent families who feel quite differently. Let's roll the clips, please!" Grizz turned the camera off and Blondie turned back to her friends. "I'd better edit and post this as soon as possible," she said. "Spell you later!"


	4. The Beginning of the Revolution

_AN: I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I have been really busy. Also, I write slowly, and I'm really bad at plots so generally I can write a few chapters and then I realize I don't really know where I'm going. I'm much better at worldbuilding. For this particular story I have the basics of a plot but I don't really like it. Do you mind? I have some other story bits (including a sequel to this) that kind of just taper off. Would you prefer to be able to see what I've got, and hopefully enjoy the first few chapters, or would you rather not be frustrated by not knowing the end? (Or possibly having really awful, rushed-feeling endings, because that seems to be all I can come up with.)_

Chapter Four: The Beginning of the Rebellion

Briar Beauty was having a bad day.

After the incident with Blondie in the castleteria, in Princessology they read texts about accepting the partner your parents pick for you, and the duty of a princess to make "strategic alliances" for her kingdom. In Damsel-in-Distressing, they talked about gender roles and the importance of letting the prince initiate romantic experiences, emphasis on _prince_. In Kingdom Management they read racist, only semi-acceptable texts on the importance of not intermarrying with magical creatures and maintaining racial purity. Grimmnastics were a relief, especially because Faybelle was there, but Briar was yanked out of it before she could change and called to an "intervention" with Ashlynn. The speakers were Mrs. Her Majesty the White Queen, the headmaster, Duchess Swan, Daring Charming, and Ashlynn's stepsisters. After that failed Headmaster Grimm made them skip lunch to be the subjects for an Advanced Wooing class. Chemythtry was boring but blessedly unpolitical, and Science  & Sorcery was as good as any class taught by Rumpelstiltskin could be. The only class that was truly nice was Music with Raven and Melody.

Usually Briar would be occupied the first hour after school with Royal Student Council, but she had been banned this year. Instead she decided to have some retail therapy and fell asleep halfway to Book End, which probably was just as well because her pockets were not as deep as they used to be.

Briar woke up when it began to rain and made her way to the private tea room in the Mad Hatter's Shoppe. She arrived at almost the exact same time Raven, Darling, and Rosabella did. Maddie, Dexter, Faybelle, Ashlynn, Hunter, and Lizzie were already there.

Briar collapsed onto a plush couch next to Faybelle. "Did you have as bad a day as I did?" she asked Faybelle.

"Apple Queen tried to have me thrown out of the League of Villains," Faybelle pouted.

"Ha! I had to endure Hopper Croakington's attempts at flirting for half an hour," Briar said. "You're lucky to have had Daring, Ash, he doesn't usually pay attention to whoever he's flirting to. He certainly doesn't get so _close_."

"Daring flirted with Ashlynn?" Hunter said, a look of alarm flashing across his face. He was usually confident, but when it came to princes and his girlfriend he was painfully insecure.

"Headmaster Grimm had us be 'charmed' by an Advanced Wooing class," Ashlynn explained.

"The headmaster certainly was not subtle in his attempt to break you guys up," Maddie said absentmindedly. "Blondie did a story about it."

"Not her again!" Briar groaned.

"My parents told me today that they had a non-fidelity clause added to my betrothal contract," Ashlynn said. "So I can keep seeing Hunter as long as I do it quietly."

"Well, Fidelitous Charming has a boyfriend too," Lizzie said. "So both sides need it. The whole arrangement is rather ironic considering his name."

"What are we going to do, Fay?" Briar lamented. "I can't stop thinking about what Blondie said. What if we are kidding ourselves?"

"Briar, you can't let bullies like Blondie get to you," Raven said, at the same time Faybelle said, "You're not leaving me!"

"This isn't _about_ them!" Briar cried. "I _wish_ they were the only issue we have because if they were I'd know we'll get through this! What I mean is-is our story. Fay, we're different from everyone else. We can't add a non-fidelity clause to our marriages like Hunter and Ash. We can't escape to a more accepting place like Lizzie and Kitty, and our parents can't arrange it so that you get the prince role like Rosabella's parents and Raven's mom might do for Rosabella and Darling. Our story doesn't end for a _hundred years_. When I wake up you'll be old or dead or at least have experienced a lot of things and grown and matured, and I'll be the same as I was when I went to sleep. We're going to have to say goodbye-if not now or on Legacy Day, the day I fall asleep. What's the point of dragging it out and causing ourselves more pain?"

Faybelle bit her lip, her eyes filling with tears that she tried to blink away. Around the room, Lizzie, Ashlynn, Hunter, Darling, and Rosabella's faces were twisted into sympathetic grimaces. They knew how star-crossed love felt.

"Well...what if it isn't the only way?" Raven said. Everyone turned to look at her, and she blushed. "Okay, so I was going to introduce this differently-with everyone here, for one thing-but I did a lot of thinking, over the summer, about the destiny system. It was really just chance that let me have a good destiny, and Duchess a bad one, for example, and that's not fair. You've probably realized by now that my mom is a big fan of working inside the rules to make a happy ending out of a not-so-happy one, but that doesn't work for everyone. And that's not right. So I began to look into what other options there are."

"What do you mean, other options?" Briar asked. "There _is_ no other option. You have to sign the Book. You have to live your story."

"Actually, you don't," Raven said. "I spent all but three weeks of the summer visiting the strongholds of peoples in the League of Magical Races, mostly in dwarvish citadels. Pretty much all of them except fairies are against the legacy system and have been doing research to prove that it is unnecessary and unhelpful. They agree that if someone doesn't sign the Book their story will continue, and that even if they _do_ sign the Book they are not legally or magically bound to actually live the story. In their archives are multiple accounts of people who either ran away before signing the Book, ran away after signing the Book but before starting their story, and people who signed the Book but did things that went against the rules of the story."

"That's true," Cerise said. Everyone turned to look at her, and she tugged nervously on her hood. "I mean...last year, when everyone was throwing a fit about undestined couples, my mom told me once that she'd heard that a villain-protagonist couple from when she was in school had gotten secretly married in Wonderland. They were able to do it even though it wasn't in their story, and they had signed the Book."

Raven suppressed a smile at that. The couple Cerise spoke of was, of course, her own parents. Cerise's mom, Scarlet, was one of Lily's few friends that weren't Wonderlandian or dwarvish-they had hit it off as roommates at Ever After High, and Raven's mom had always been protective of Scarlet and Cerise. Last year when Faybelle and Briar had started dating Lily had been adamant that Raven support the star-crossed couples (which she had been planning on doing anyway). Raven had already had suspicions that Cerise's dad wasn't human, and Lily's unwavering, vocal support for undestined romances made her realize that Cerise had been the product of one. From there it was all too easy-and too obvious, in hindsight-to guess who Cerise's dad was. Raven had never said anything about it until the summer, when during her week in Hood Hollow with the Wolves she visited the Hoods to talk about Scarlet's experience with the Book. Scarlet had admitted that she had signed the Book _Mrs. Badwolf_ , which had made them all roar with laughter.

"So...you knew this almost the whole time, and _when_ exactly did you intend to tell us?" Briar asked Cerise angrily, raising one eyebrow in a look that she had clearly learned from Faybelle. Faybelle herself was uncharacteristically quiet-usually she would be the one making snarky comments.

Cerise blushed and stared at her feet. She was probably thinking that she hadn't intended to tell to protect her secret. Raven swooped in to distract the group. "I'm sure she assumed Faybelle already knew," Raven lied. "Like I said, in most magical cultures it is common knowledge that you don't have to sign."

Briar hesitated and bit her lip, her expression one of someone afraid to get their hopes up. "Is it...is it really true?"

"Of course," Lizzie said. "What, did you actually believe that you would cease to exist if you didn't sign? Poppycock! What nonsense you Ever Afters believe…"

Briar lept to her feet and began to dance. "This is great! This is the best thing that ever happened to me!" She began to laugh. "I don't have to sleep for a hundred years!" She threw her arms around Faybelle. "Oh, Fay, we really can be together forever!'"

Faybelle, on the other hand, was completely still. Not even her wings twitched. "It's….it's not that simple, Briar," she said. "The fairies have never believed that we would cease to exist if we didn't sign. Well, Farrah Goodfairy might, but that's because she's part genie.* But that still doesn't mean that we don't have to. We don't need that kind of threat hanging over our heads to be compelled. Tradition is something that's really important to a lot of people, but fairies and villains especially. My mom has been really supportive of us, but that's because she thinks I've seduced a maiden. She wouldn't react any better than your parents if she thought I wasn't going to fulfill my destiny. And that's just our parents. Other people could take it even worse. You know Ever After has gone to war to force people to follow their destinies? That's what the Mermish-Human War was really about, it's why Mishell Mermaid is here, it's why she always wears black.** Her people hate the legacy system, but they keep sending up princesses to die because war will resume if they don't! They don't even name them anymore; Mishell was named by the headmaster."

"So-you're not even going to _try_?" Briar asked. "I thought that I would die if I stayed with you, and I still gave up my family so that we could have three years together, and you won't even _try_? Yeah, it'll be difficult, but at least it's _possible_! I've been kicked out of my home and lived with strangers and tossed out my identity for you, and you're not willing to sacrifice _anything_ for me? How much is this relationship worth to you?"

"No, Briar, it's not like that!" Faybelle said. "It's just, we have to be realistic-!"

" _If you were going to be realistic you shouldn't have gone out with me in the first place_!" Briar roared, and stormed out. Faybelle flew after her, and Briar threw her purse at her. "Stop! Just stop it! I don't want to see you right now!"

"Okay, I hoped this would go better than that," Raven said, "but my mom and I made a plan…."

*This is part of a rather complicated backstory for the Goodfairys I made up.

**This is also part of a backstory I made up for Mishelle (and yes, I'm spelling her name that way on purpose). Changing the ending to her story and making her a Royal is a sellout of _unbelievable_ proportions. She's the perfect Rebel! I guess they thought it would have been too serious for a kid's show to have someone destined to die, but they already have Duchess! Is it only okay if the person in question ignores their tragic fate and the system that holds them to it? Mishelle is, in my head, basically Duchess' foil-they could have had such interesting interactions! I might do a one-shot with them sometime...


End file.
